Pe'ah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 5. This mishnah too continues the topic we have been dealing with until now: what is considered a single field with regard to pe'ah, and what is considered two separate fields.
Brothers who divided an inheritance and then became partners again:
"Ha'achin shechalku - nosnin shtei pe'os, chazru venishtatfu - nosnin pe'ah achas" - brothers who inherited a property and divided it between them, so that one brother took one part of the field and the other took a different part, give two separate pe'ah portions, since the field has become two separate fields. But if after the division the brothers rejoined and became partners in the entire field, combining their two portions together, they give only one pe'ah. This is the law that applies to partners.
The source of this law is derived from the wording of the verse: the Gemara in Maseches Chullin derives it from the fact that the verse dealing with reaping uses the plural form - "sadcha" and "pe'ascha". From here we learn that partners are obligated in pe'ah, and in only one pe'ah, because they share a partnership in that very same field.
Two people who bought a single tree:
"Shnayim shelakchu es ha'ilan - nosnin pe'ah achas" - two people who together bought a single tree are partners, and therefore they give only one pe'ah from the fruit of that tree. But we must distinguish between two cases:
They bought it in full partnership: each one of them owns every single part of the tree together with his fellow - they give one pe'ah.
They divided the sides of the tree: one said, "I will be the owner of the northern side of the tree, and you of the southern side" - this one gives pe'ah from his side and that one gives pe'ah from his side, just like the law of two different fields.
One who sells tree saplings in his field:
"Hamocher kalchei ilan besoch sadehu - nosen pe'ah mikol echad ve'echad" - a person who sells tree saplings, young trees, to another person, with the intention that the buyer will eventually take them and replant them in his own field. In the meantime the trees remain standing in their place in the seller's field and they are full of fruit, but now they belong to the buyer. The buyer does not own the land at all, only the individual trees, and therefore he must give a separate pe'ah from each and every one of the trees - for here there is no land, no field and no real property to join them together.
The words of Rabbi Yehudah:
"Eimasai? Bizman shelo shiyer ba'al hasadeh, aval im shiyer ba'al hasadeh - hu nosen pe'ah lakol" - Rabbi Yehudah clarifies the scope of the law: when is the buyer obligated to give pe'ah from each of his individual trees? Only when the owner of the field, the seller, did not keep any of the trees for himself. But if the owner of the field kept some of the trees for himself, he gives pe'ah for everything, including the trees he sold.
The dispute between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi in explaining Rabbi Yehudah:
The Bavli (Maseches Chullin): the seller's obligation to give pe'ah for everything applies only when the owner of the field has already begun to harvest. Once he has begun to harvest the fruit, we say that he is involved in the matter and that it was not his intention to sell the pe'ah, and therefore he gives the pe'ah for the trees he sold as well.
The Yerushalmi: even if he did not begin to harvest. A seller generally does not sell the pe'ah; rather, he sells everything except the pe'ah, and therefore the obligation rests upon him to give the pe'ah for everything.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned the rules of joining and separating with regard to pe'ah - brothers who divided and then became partners again, two people who bought a tree in partnership or who divided its sides, and one who sells tree saplings in his field when the buyer has no ownership of the land. We also examined the words of Rabbi Yehudah regarding a case where the owner of the field kept part for himself, and the dispute between the Bavli and the Yerushalmi in explaining them.